Theres nothing or no one very exciting about Dont Flop anymore. Most of the top battlers left, they relied too much on gimmicky bullshit which brought in too many fans of the gimmicky bullshit and not enough of battle rap - that was good while it lasted but all those fans have left now too. All the international battlers came over for a quick paycheck without putting in any effort and the ones who did didnt really have any UK battlers good enough to make matchups.

Things I do like though, that last DF Scotland event with Real Deal vs. Soul and Tony D vs. Respek BA had a good old school feel, smaller with good battles and a hype crowd. Dont Flop need to go back to where they were around the 4BW and Set The Standard events but I dont think they have the battlers or the fans there for it.

DF still has better talent coming through than KOTD, but Eurgh seems a little lost what to do with them. Rushing Raptor into the title match for example, basically destroyed the development of a promising talent.

Having Soul as a champion doesn't help either as Soul isn't the type to bring in tons of new fans and hype an event up.

Add to that, Eurgh trying to make battles go viral that never will and you have a bit of a mess.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by deathstare

and emancee is a faggot

Finally, after years of abuse, Manik snaps and, just like in the Illmac/ Saurus battle, unleashes some of the angriest texting ever.

-Variety of approaches: Colourful and UNIQUE battlers that stand out. How different are, say, Dialekt, Ogmios, Oshea, Calcium Kid, etc...plenty of different styles and personalities.

-Battle Rap Resume. Miles ahead of Dirtbag Dan show in my view. Actually talks about battles, interviews etc which makes you appreciate it all the more. (ie: After listening to interviews with battlers discuss the craft I'm way more interested in their work.)

-Production quality especially AUDIO always great

-Great crowds.

-New guys keep popping up who are great. (ie: Shox, McKenzie, Respek BA, even say Quill, all names I didn't know until recently.)

-Sense of fun. Yeah they're battling but it's not faking that there's genuine beef here. You get the sense that Tony D and Shox had a beer after the battle.

Lowkey my favorite league, ups and downs and all. Yeah Eurgh seems like he'd be a cunt behind the scenes and losing a lot of important staff to Unilad sucks but, the drive is still there. Same big variety of styles they've always had. They've got dudes who bar out hard (Dialect, Shox, Gemini, etc.), dudes who've made me laugh so hard I could barely catch my breath (Oshea, Shuffle-T & Marlo, Matter, etc.), and they always get the most interesting international emcees. They're where I first heard of Henry Bowers, who was in my top 5 while he was active, for example. And the production quality goes from grimy to polished within the space of an event or two. From coffee shops and tunnels to 360 degree stages in night clubs and such.

They also take chances with the format. Grime clashes and battles on beat, still do freestyles now and then, literal mirror matches and jokey gimmick battles, whatever.

And the crowd is always good. I can't ever remember thinking "This crowd is ass" during a DF battle.

People had always touted Don't Flop's depth as one of its strongest attributes, like a couple years back, there seemed to be an impression that any of like 20 guys could main event a card. At that time I felt that was always going to come back to bite them in the ass, and I think that may have something to do with their downfall. When everybody's special, nobody is, so rather than a bunch of talented future main eventers, it really appeared as though there were just a bunch of interchangeable parts, none of which were special, and there was no real hierarchy.

I think this did a good job of pushing the brand and establishing a Don't Flop style. I feel that always has a short shelf life though, and that invariably fans, will want unique acts that they can gravitate towards. This isn't to say DF have none of them, but that the hierarchy is messy. So for a while, I had no idea who the big names in DF were, and I thought that was a problem. URL's hierarchy has at times been difficult to navigate too, but I think the presence of Hollow, Lux and Mook as end bosses helps with that a lot.

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Check out BattleRap.com for all news, interviews, and telling me in the comments that the person I said was good is actually trash.

-New guys keep popping up who are great. (ie: Shox, McKenzie, Respek BA, even say Quill, all names I didn't know until recently.)

Respek BA was repping pre-jump off and was one of the first battles on DF (2011 according to Verse Tracker). MacKenzie was also on DF in the very beginning, but (stupidly) left to rep Badmouth/ KOTR and is now back after Badmouth folded.

Likewise Quill goes back to the 2012 'killer crop'.

I guess you mean guys that are 'new' to you, right?

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathstare

and emancee is a faggot

Finally, after years of abuse, Manik snaps and, just like in the Illmac/ Saurus battle, unleashes some of the angriest texting ever.

MacKenzie was also on DF in the very beginning, but (stupidly) left to rep Badmouth/ KOTR and is now back after Badmouth folded.

Actually mate that's a different Mackenzie. The guy who was at the 1st DF Scotland events is an Edinburgh rapper who went by Mr Mackenzie, and who now (iirc) goes by Strong Tone. The more recent Mackenzie is Glaswegian has been battling for a while on Scottish leagues, KotR more recently, and has still yet to do a DF battle as far as I'm aware.

Anyway DF is my favourite for most of the reasons @Triptych and @Spacelab stated.I'd add that Soul's title run is the best thing in battle rap right now, and the new grime only channel/events are a nice new direction.

Current weaknesses are a massive drop off in quality newcomers (only solid battler to tryout in 2016 was Scoop which is a bit worrying). Still though, so long as they have guys like Respek, Tenchoo & Crisis returning, it more than levels out.

Actually mate that's a different Mackenzie. The guy who was at the 1st DF Scotland events is an Edinburgh rapper who went by Mr Mackenzie, and who now (iirc) goes by Strong Tone. The more recent Mackenzie is Glaswegian has been battling for a while on Scottish leagues, KotR more recently, and has still yet to do a DF battle as far as I'm aware.

You've genuinely blown my mind here, lol. I just assumed Mackenzie from Silvertongue and Mackenzie was the same guy this whole time. Then again, I don't know much about Scotland or watch KOTR.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathstare

and emancee is a faggot

Finally, after years of abuse, Manik snaps and, just like in the Illmac/ Saurus battle, unleashes some of the angriest texting ever.

I feel like you're giving unjust credit here. I don't really see how this is taking a chance with the format at all, Grime clashes have been around a lot longer than Don't Flop but in the past few years Grime has had a massive boost in popularity; they're hopping on a trend not innovating. I haven't rated any of the battles from their 140 event so far and I don't think Don't Flop is really the place for grime, it's an awkward mix.

That being said, I do think it's a smart move, they see an opportunity to pick up some of these new grime fans and make up for the lack of views their regular battles are getting.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingpen

if u were really tough you would go troll reddit

Quote:

Originally Posted by pityposter

And yes, I promise you, on everything, you don't want any of this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoenix

there is no point of rewinding 5 times that 7 guys molested okwerdz family 11 times.

Jean Gough Frais is not from Don't Flop. He is from the Berlin based battle leage DLTLLY - Don't Let The Label Label You. He is a personal friend from league owner JollyJay (who battled on Don't Flop several times).

I feel like you're giving unjust credit here. I don't really see how this is taking a chance with the format at all, Grime clashes have been around a lot longer than Don't Flop but in the past few years Grime has had a massive boost in popularity; they're hopping on a trend not innovating. I haven't rated any of the battles from their 140 event so far and I don't think Don't Flop is really the place for grime, it's an awkward mix.

That being said, I do think it's a smart move, they see an opportunity to pick up some of these new grime fans and make up for the lack of views their regular battles are getting.

Ah I just meant in comparison to other battle leagues. Whereas KOTD, URL, whoever, is just acapella pre-writes, DF will sometimes throw in something like a grime clash or freestyles over beatboxing, shit like that. They branch out quite a bit for who they are and what they do and I really appreciate that.

Ah I just meant in comparison to other battle leagues. Whereas KOTD, URL, whoever, is just acapella pre-writes, DF will sometimes throw in something like a grime clash or freestyles over beatboxing, shit like that. They branch out quite a bit for who they are and what they do and I really appreciate that.

Yeah I get you and I always liked that about them aswell tbf.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingpen

if u were really tough you would go troll reddit

Quote:

Originally Posted by pityposter

And yes, I promise you, on everything, you don't want any of this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoenix

there is no point of rewinding 5 times that 7 guys molested okwerdz family 11 times.

Jean Gough Frais is not from Don't Flop. He is from the Berlin based battle leage DLTLLY - Don't Let The Label Label You. He is a personal friend from league owner JollyJay (who battled on Don't Flop several times).

Some of Don't Flop is great; the characters are the most developed by any league. A lot of the battlers have a clear sense of themselves and bring something different and innovative to the table, which can be great.

It can also be terrible though. Don't Flop has turned into a bit too much performance art and not enough, yano, rap battling. I love Shuffle T and Marlo, but I don't want them to become a parody of themselves. Everyone else has seen what they're doing and is trying to mimic it, and it's never fun to watch.

Also the crowd/staff/whatever are all too nice. Some performances are outright terrible and everyone is standing there cheering like it's the best thing they've ever heard.

Looks like DF are gonna do a Grindtime. In the past week the majority of staff have left because Eurgh is a dickhead(that's me summarising the posts). Also Cruger is apparently refusing to work because he is owed money.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingpen

if u were really tough you would go troll reddit

Quote:

Originally Posted by pityposter

And yes, I promise you, on everything, you don't want any of this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoenix

there is no point of rewinding 5 times that 7 guys molested okwerdz family 11 times.

Looks like DF are gonna do a Grindtime. In the past week the majority of staff have left because Eurgh is a dickhead(that's me summarising the posts). Also Cruger is apparently refusing to work because he is owed money.

Who left in the last week? What happened? What did you see/ read and where? Thanks for the heads up

Who left in the last week? What happened? What did you see/ read and where? Thanks for the heads up

Lol my bad, that was a lazy update. Sam Strickland (think he's a camera man) then Callum (who runs VP and DF social media in general) and now Briggzy(who runs all Don't Flop North) ima get some screenshots and just make a thread because it probably needs it's own one.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingpen

if u were really tough you would go troll reddit

Quote:

Originally Posted by pityposter

And yes, I promise you, on everything, you don't want any of this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by phoenix

there is no point of rewinding 5 times that 7 guys molested okwerdz family 11 times.